Changes in the mental health in the children’s and adolescent population in Germany during the COVID-19 pandemic – Results of a rapid review
Open accessAbstract
Background: This rapid review examines changes in the mental health of the German child and adolescent population during the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: The basis are 39 publications, which were identified by means of systematic literature search (until 19.11.2021) and manual search. The databases of the included publications were systematized with regard to their representativeness for the general population, and the indicators used were categorized with regard to the depicted constructs and their reliability. Results: The large majority of the studies took place at the beginning of the pandemic until the summer plateau 2020. Representative studies mainly reported high levels of pandemic-related stress, increases in mental health problems, and negative impacts on the quality of life. Non-representative studies showed mixed results. Vulnerable groups could only be identified to a limited extent. Both routine and care-related data showed declines in the outpatient and inpatient service utilisation during the various waves of the pandemic followed by catch-up effects. Children and adolescents turned out to be more vulnerable during the pandemic compared to adults, but their stress levels varied with the waves of the pandemic and the related containment measures. Conclusions: A future forward-looking crisis and pandemic management requires a close-knit and continuous surveillance of the mental health of children as well as an improved identification of risk groups.
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The prevalence of mental illness increased in children, adolescents, and young adults during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“The prevalence of mental illness increased in children, adolescents, and young adults during the COVID-19 pandemic, while at the same time, access to treatment facilities has been restricted, resulting in a need for the quick implementation of remote or online interventions.”
From Effectiveness of Online and Remote Interventions for Mental Health in Children, Adolescents, and Young Adults After the Onset of the COVID-19 Pandemic: Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis (2024) · cites this paper as [15]
The Discussion (Development of the mental health of children and adolescents; page unavailable) reports that mental health problems among children and adolescents increased during the pandemic. But the Discussion (Spectrum and validity of used indicators; page unavailable) says the studies cannot establish whether diagnosed mental disorders increased, and Limitations and strengths says no conclusions can be drawn about young adulthood. The claim therefore extends the finding beyond both the measured outcome and the population. (LLM, conf=0.90)
Experimental — accuracy not yet measuredIncreased stress levels are associated with respective containment measures.
“Increased stress levels are associated with respective containment measures [15].”
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Background
- Authors
- Schlack, R., Neuperd, L., Junker, S., Eicher, S., Hölling, H., Thom, J., Ravens-Sieberer, U., & Beyer, A.-K.
- Affiliations
- Robert Koch Institute (DE)
- Venue
- Robert Koch-Institut
- Publisher
- Robert Koch-Institut
- Published
- 2022-12
- Volume
- 8
- Issue
- Suppl 1
- Pages
- 2-72
- PMC
- PMC9936565
- OpenAlex
- W4321611406
- Cited by
- 30
- References
- 39
- Citations by year
- 2026: 2 · 2025: 10 · 2024: 10 · 2023: 8
- FWCI
- 6.39
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
- Licence
- cc-by
- Locations
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Publication server of the Robert Koch Institute (Robert Kock Institute) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
- DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
- Robert-Koch-Institut (RKI)
- Funders
- Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
- Robert Koch Institut
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › COVID-19 and Mental Health
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Child and Adolescent Psychosocial and Emotional Development
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health › Maternal Mental Health During Pregnancy and Postpartum
- Keywords
- child and adolescent mental health, COVID-19 pandemic, pandemic stress, mental illness, quality of life, vulnerable populations, mental health service utilization, catch-up effect, containment measures, Germany
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